The community has been on high alert since Friday 11 February and the United States announcing a possible invasion of Ukraine by Russia “at any moment”. Since then, diplomatic exchanges have intensified and the international community has reiterated its red lines.
The Ukrainian government, for its part, is calling for calm and on Monday 14 February, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said there was “still a chance” to “solve the problems that need to be solved”, adding that opportunities for dialogue were not “exhausted”.
On the same day, G7 ministers (Germany, Italy, France, the UK, Japan, Canada and the United States) warned that they were ready to “act swiftly and decisively” to support the Ukrainian economy, while supporting ongoing efforts to urgently identify a diplomatic path to de-escalation, which is the “immediate priority”.
Recalling that since 2014, combined bilateral and multilateral economic support has exceeded $48 billion, the ministers added that they would continue to coordinate closely to ensure that Ukraine receives the necessary economic and financial support.
“Any further military aggression by Russia against Ukraine will be met with a swift, coordinated and forceful response”, the ministers reiterated, saying they were ready to collectively impose economic and financial sanctions that will have massive and immediate consequences for the Russian economy.
See the press release: https://aeur.eu/f/bu
Coordination intensifies
On Monday the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, met with the Prime Ministers of Greece, Finland, Poland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Slovakia to discuss the security situation in and around Ukraine and the military build-up. The day before, he had already held talks with the Prime Ministers of Estonia, Latvia, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Sweden and the President of Lithuania.
Depending on the situation, a meeting of EU leaders could be organised alongside the EU-African Union summit taking place on Thursday and Friday in Brussels.
The Europeans are also increasing communication with the Americans, as well as with the Ukrainian and Russian Presidents. Mr Michel met with Volodymyr Zelensky, and French President Emmanuel Macron met with Vladimir Putin. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was in Kiev on Monday and will be in Moscow on Tuesday.
On Monday, EU High Representative Josep Borrell met with the new US ambassador to the EU, Mark Gitenstein. On the same day, US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman met with Ms von der Leyen’s Chief of Staff Björn Seibert, following a first meeting on 11 February. Mr Seibert had also spoken with the US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. Ms Sherman had also been in contact with the Secretary General of the European External Action Service, Stefano Sannino.
By late afternoon on Friday, the leaders of the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Romania and the United Kingdom, the Presidents of the European Commission and the European Council and the Secretary General of NATO had met following the US announcement. They agreed on the importance of coordinated efforts to deter Russia from further aggression against Ukraine. The leaders also expressed their desire for a diplomatic solution to the crisis and said they were prepared to impose massive consequences and economic costs on Russia if it chose military escalation.
According to a European Commission press release, its President, Ursula von der Leyen, described the state of play of sectoral and individual sanctions in case of new military aggression, reaffirming that all options are on the table and that sanctions would concern the financial and energy sectors as well as exports of advanced technology products.
Calls to leave the country
Faced with the risk of attack, several European countries - Greece, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Ireland and the Netherlands - have called on their citizens to leave the country or to not travel there. On Saturday, the EU High Representative announced that the diplomatic missions of the EU and Member States were not closing, that they would remain in Kiev and continue to operate in support of EU citizens and in cooperation with the Ukrainian authorities. “Staff presence and travel advice for EU citizens are adapted as necessary, to take account of the security situation”, he added. Non-essential staff of the EU Delegation have been asked to leave the country, but the Head of the Delegation, Matti Maasikas, is in Kiev. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)